May 2018: re-edited since its original posting.
Chapter 3 - Rescue of the Rescuers
The Doctor sonic'ed the "MOTORWAY ACCESS" door and the lock opened with a loud clang. He opened the door, stepping through onto a platform with Rose.
She instantly began coughing and choking in the smoke-filled atmosphere, and even he couldn't help but be affected by what seemed to be exhaust from the thousands of flying cars arrayed before them, barely moving in the multi-leveled traffic jam.
The door of the car in front of them opened, a figure cloaked in protective gear leaning out to call to them. "Hey, you daft little street struts! What are you doing, standing there? Either get out or get in! Come on!" He gestured urgently for them to enter the car.
The Doctor nodded to Rose through his coughs when she looked to him from behind her sleeve. With a short running start, she jumped the distance into the car, the Doctor following close behind.
"Did you ever see the like?" muttered their rescuer, sliding the door closed. "Just standing there, breathing it in!"
A woman in the car handed an oxygen mask to Rose. "Here you go," she said. After a few breaths, Rose handed it to the still-coughing Doctor. He accepted it, gratefully.
The man pulled off his goggles, cap, and scarf, revealing himself to be a cat, just like Novice Hame and the other Sisters they'd met before at the New New York hospital.
"There's this story," he told them, "says back in the old days, on Junction Forty-Seven, this woman stood in the exhaust fumes for a solid twenty minutes. By the time they found her, her head had swollen to fifty feet!"
The Doctor passed the oxygen mask back to Rose as the woman slapped the cat gentleman on the arm. "Oh, you're making it up," she said dismissively.
The Doctor watched the banter bemusedly, as the couple moved to the driver's and passenger's seats, all the while checking on Rose and working to clear his own system of the noxious fumes.
The woman suddenly tapped the man on the arm. "Bran, we're moving!"
He turned to the controls. "Right. I'm there. I'm on it." He threw a lever, the car immediately lurching ahead. Horns sounded from the vehicles surrounding them, and after only a couple of seconds the car drew to a halt. "Twenty yards!" the man exclaimed. "We're having a good day."
The man and woman smiled at each other, then turned back to the Doctor and Rose.
"And who might you be?" the man asked them. "Very well-dressed for hitchhikers."
Rose had just given the oxygen mask back to the Doctor, so she answered for them. "Um, thanks. I'm Rose, and this is the Doctor."
"Medical man! Ha-ha!" the man laughed. "My name's Thomas Kincaid Brannigan, and this is the bane of my life, the lovely Valerie," he said, indicating the woman.
"Nice to meet you," said Valerie.
"Likewise," managed the Doctor, finally finished with the oxygen. He handed it back to Rose, but she set it aside on a shelf.
"And that's the rest of the family behind you," Brannigan said, pointing over the Doctor's shoulder.
He turned and drew a curtain, revealing a basket of mewling kittens. He could have sworn one of them said "Mama."
"Aww, that's nice," he said, crouching down with Rose beside the basket.
"They're so sweet!" Rose said, as the Doctor picked one up to place in her arms.
"Hello," he told another that stumbled over to him, and he picked it up, letting it nuzzle against his chest.
Rose was just beaming at him. "Not so bad, after all, huh?" she teased.
He remembered the last comment he'd made about cats, and although he was willing to change his opinion, he wasn't about to admit it. He stood, turning back to their hosts, the kitten still in his arms. "How old are they?" the Doctor asked.
"Just two months," said Valerie.
"Poor little souls," said Brannigan. "They've never known the ground beneath their paws. Children of the motorway."
Rose stood up as well. "What, they were born in here?" she asked.
"We couldn't stop," said Valerie. "We heard there were jobs going, out in the laundries on Fire Island. Thought we'd take a chance."
"What?" the Doctor asked, finding it difficult to believe he was hearing right. "You've been driving for two months?"
"Do I look like a teenager?" asked Brannigan. "We've been driving for twelve years, now."
"Thank you for your call. You have been placed on hold."
Rose couldn't believe it. "The police put us on hold."
The Doctor gave her shoulder a squeeze, then moved away from the terminal, up to Brannigan and Valerie. "Is there anyone else?" he asked them. "I once met the Duke of Manhattan; is there any way of getting through to him?"
"Oh, now, ain't you lordly?" Brannigan asked.
Rose chuckled. If he only knew.
"We've got to find our friend," the Doctor persisted.
"You can't make outside calls," Valerie said. "The motorway's completely enclosed."
Calls, calls, thought Rose. "Doctor, what if she's got her mobile?" she asked.
"Genius!" said the Doctor, coming back to her, and holding out his hand. "Let me see yours."
"I never got her number," Rose realized, as she handed it over.
"Doesn't matter," the Doctor told her, pulling out his sonic screwdriver and applying it to the phone. "Her phone'll be the only communications device operating in your frequency range, so all we need to do -"
Rose could hear ringing coming from the earpiece, and the Doctor moved the mobile to his ear. "Martha?!" he asked, when someone obviously picked up. "You're alright? No, fine, where are you? Which car? Four-six-five-diamond-six. Fast lane. Martha? Martha? What is that?" He paused, and Rose could see the anxiety in his face. "Martha?!"
Rose was almost sure she'd heard screaming.
"Her battery's dead," the Doctor said, shutting off the phone and handing it back to Rose. "We've got to go to the fast lane," he said, turning to Brannigan. "Take us down."
"Not in a million years," Brannigan told him, in a firm, but almost frightened voice.
"You've got more than three passengers!" Rose pointed out.
"I'm still not going," Brannigan insisted.
"She's alone, and she's lost," the Doctor pleaded. "She doesn't belong on this planet, and it's all my fault. I'm asking you, Brannigan: take us down."
Valerie intervened. "That's a 'no'. And that's final. I'm not risking the children, down there."
"Why not?" asked Rose, surprised at the obvious terror in Valerie's voice, and wondering what could be happening to Martha right now.
"What's the risk?" asked the Doctor. "What happens down there?"
"We're not discussing it!" exclaimed Valerie. "The conversation is closed!"
"So, we keep on driving," said the Doctor.
"Yes, we do," replied Brannigan.
"For how long?" the Doctor asked.
"'Til the journey's end." Brannigan said.
The Doctor turned and paced back towards Rose, obviously as frustrated as she felt. Finally, he squatted down in the middle of the car, pulling out his sonic screwdriver.
"If you won't take us, I'll go down on my own," he said, running the screwdriver over what looked like a floor hatch.
"Doctor?" Rose asked. Just how was he going to do that? And what did he mean, "on his own"?
"What do you think you're doing?" Brannigan asked, as the hatch clicked.
"Finding my own way. I usually do," answered the Doctor, lifting the hatch.
"Capsule open," reported a computerized voice.
"Doctor, what're you doin'?" Rose asked, as they looked down through the opening at the thousands of cars in the lanes below them.
"I can tolerate the fumes, car to car," he told her, shrugging out of his overcoat, handing it to Rose. "I'll be back for that," he told her. "I love that coat," he said, seemingly momentarily distracted as he looked at it. "Janis -"
"Janis Joplin gave you this coat, yeah, I know," Rose said, still not happy that he was clearly trying to leave her behind.
"Keep trying the police," he said, looking down nervously.
Rose bit her lip, but knew it sort of made sense. "Yeah, I will."
"Oh, and -" He reached over, pulling Rose into a kiss.
A beautifully, frighteningly thorough, goodbye kiss.
When he at last pulled away, he just looked at her for a long moment. Then, glancing down, they saw another car pull to a stop immediately below. "Here goes," he said, lining himself up at the hatch.
Rose bit her tongue, tamping down on thoughts of final words.
Valerie called to him, as he dangled his legs through the opening. "But you can't jump!"
"If it's any consolation, Valerie," he said, "right now, I'm having kittens."
"This Martha," Brannigan said, "she must mean an awful lot to you."
"Hardly know her," he said, watching the traffic below. He looked up at Rose. "Bye then!" he said, and slid through the hatch.
Rose watched with relief as he landed safely, and started to work on the car's top hatch with the sonic.
"He's completely insane!" Valerie exclaimed.
"Yeah," agreed Rose.
"That, and a bit magnificent!" Brannigan added in awe.
Rose watched the Doctor jump down into the car. "That, too," she said, smiling despite herself.
To be continued...